Kylian Mbappe ripped Barcelona apart by scoring a stunning hat-trick in a 4-1 rout to put Paris Saint-Germain on the brink of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Mbappe underlined his status as the coming superstar of world football with a ruthless display of finishing at Camp Nou that will go down as one this competition’s most devastating individual performances.
The 22-year-old eclipsed Barca’s Lionel Messi, whose opening goal from the penalty spot had been reduced to nothing more than a footnote by the final whistle.
Moise Kean also headed in midway through the first half, carelessly left unmarked from a free-kick as PSG pulled away to win this first leg, and perhaps the tie.
Barcelona will no doubt draw upon the spirit of their astonishing ‘Remontada’ in 2017, when they won the second leg 6-1 to overturn a 4-0 deficit from the opening game in Paris.
It will certainly serve as a warning for PSG but without fans, and with Mbappe, any hopes of a repeat for Ronald Koeman’s side from look faint at best.
Koeman had gambled on the fitness of Gerard Pique, who had not played a game in almost three months due to a knee ligament injury. But to rub salt into the wounds, Pique trudged off late on just as PSG were running riot.
